Rockin' Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage, like us on Facebook, and tune in to 93.5 or stream the show every Saturday night from 6-9pm! (Or download the WVBR+ app now available for iOS and Android!)
·all chart information comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise noted
·a glossary of terms is below the playlist
6:00 - 7:00
OPENING THEME: Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969 - #29: produced by Jimi Hendrix)
Here Comes My Baby - The Tremeloes (1967 - #13: song was written by Cat Stevens)
On a Clear Day - The Peddlers (1968 - NR: cover of the Broadway song by British group; a jazzy tune)
Expressway to Your Heart - The Soul Survivors (1967 - #4: song made its chart debut on 9/2/67)
Never Comes the Day - The Moody Blues (1969 - #91: from the LP "On the Threshold of a Dream")
Eyes of a New York Woman - B.J. Thomas (1968 - #28: song was written by Mark James, who also wrote "Suspicious Minds")
For the Love of Ivy - Mamas and Papas (1968 - #81: song made its chart debut on 9/14/68)
That's Where I Went Wrong - The Poppy Family (1970 - #29: Susan Jacks was lead singer for the Canadian pop group)
Live - The Merry-Go-Round (1967 - #63: song was later covered by The Bangles on the debut album)
You're the One - The Vogues (1965 - #4: first charting single for the group from Turtle Creek, Pa.)
Don't It Make You Want to Go Home - Joe South w/ the Believers (1969 - #41: South was the total package: singer/songwriter/producer/session musician)
45 Corner
My World Fell Down - Sagittarius (1967 -#70: studio group that included Glen Campbell; song has been called "the best single the Beach Boys never made")
Touch Me - The Doors (1969 - #3: from their "Soft Parade" LP, song made its chart debut on 12/28/68)
Pretty Flamingo - Manfred Mann (1966 - #29: born Manfred Lubowitz in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mann was the keyboardist for the band; Paul Jones sang lead vocals)
Lady-O - The Turtles (1969 - #78: song was written by Judee Sill, a folk artist who opened for Graham Nash and David Crosby)
7:00 - 8:00: The Birthday Calendar
September 8:
Patsy Cline [Virginia Patterson Hensley] - b. 1932
Brian Cole (The Association) - b. 1942
Sal Valentino (The Beau Brummels) - 82
September 9:
Joe Negroni (The Teenagers) - b. 1940
Otis Redding - b. 1941
Inez Foxx - b. 1942
Luther Simmons, Jr. (The Main Ingredient) - b. 1942
Dee Dee Sharp [Dione LaRue] - 79
Doug Ingle (Iron Butterfly) - b. 1946
September 10:
Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night) - 82
Jose Feliciano - 79
Joe Perry (Aerosmith) - 74
September 11:
Charles Patrick (The Monotones) - b. 1938
Bernie Dwyer (Freddie and the Dreamers) - b. 1940
Jack Ely (The Kingsmen) - b. 1943
Dennis Tufano (The Buckinghams) - 78
September 12:
Barry White - b. 1944
Colin Young (The Foundations) - 80
Gerry Beckley (America) - 72
September 13:
David Clayton-Thomas - 83
Peter Cetera - 80
Craig McGregor (Foghat) - b. 1949
September 14:
Ed King (Strawberry Alarm Clock; Lynyrd Skynyrd) - b. 1949
Barry Cowsill - b. 1954
Walkin' After Midnight - Patsy Cline (1957 - #12: Cline was killed in a plane crash in 1963)
Everything That Touches You - The Association (1968 - #10: Brian Cole played and sang bass for the pop group)
You Tell Me Why - The Beau Brummels (1965 - #38: Sal Valentino was the group's lead singer)
I Want You to Be My Girl - Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers (1956 - #13: Joe Negroni sang baritone for the backing group)
Try a Little Tenderness - Otis Redding (1967 - #25: song was originally a #6 hit for Ted Lewis in 1933; Redding's version ranks #204/500)
Mockingbird - Inez Foxx (1963 - #7: Foxx's version was a duet with her brother, Charlie; song was later covered by then-married couple Carly Simon and James Taylor)
Everybody Plays the Fool - The Main Ingredient (1972 - #3: biggest hit for the trio from Harlem)
Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes) - Dee Dee Sharp (1962 - #9: follow-up to her hit, "Mashed Potatoes")
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly (1968 - #30: we heard the 2:55 single version of the song, the album version clocks in at over 17:00)
Celebrate - Three Dog Night (1970 - #15: the horn section from Chicago backed the trio on this hit)
Light My Fire - Jose Feliciano (1968 - #3: his cover of the hit by The Doors)
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith (1975 - #36: Joe Perry was lead guitarist for the rock group; song ranks #408/RS500)
The Book of Love - The Monotones (1958 - #5: Charles Patrick was lead singer for the group and co-wrote the song)
You Were Made for Me - Freddie and the Dreamers (1965 - #21: Bernie Dwyer was the drummer for the British Invasion group)
Louie Louie - The Kingsmen (1963 - #2: song ranks #55/RS500 and is the "world's most recorded rock song"; Jack Ely sang the vocals but was kicked out of the band)
Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song) - The Buckinghams (1967 - #12: Dennis Tufano was the lead singer for the Chicago group)
8:00 - 9:00
You're the First, the Last, My Everything - Barry White (1974 - #2: one of several big hits for the soul singer from Galveston, Tx)
Build Me Up Buttercup - The Foundations (1969 - #3: Colin Young was the lead singer for the group; it is a tradition to play the song at home football games at the University of Wisconsin)
Sister Golden Hair - America (1975 - #1: Gerry Beckley wrote this hit for the trio; produced by George Martin)
Lisa Listen to Me - Blood, Sweat & Tears (1971 - #73: David Clayton-Thomas was lead singer for the group and co-wrote this minor hit)
*Old Days - Chicago (1975 - #5: Peter Cetera wrote this hit and later had a successful solo career)
Slow Ride - Foghat (1976 - #20: Craig McGregor played bass for the band)
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974 - #8: Ed King co-wrote this hit and be heard doing the count-in to the song)
The Prophecy of Daniel and John the Divine (6-6-6) - The Cowsills (1969 - #75: Barry Cowsill played bass for the family band)
Even the Good Times Are Bad - The Tremeloes (1967 - #36: flip side to "Silence Is Golden" which charted in its own right)
Fakin' It - Simon & Garfunkel (1967 - #23: English folk singer Evelyn Martin provided the spoken line, "Good Morning Mr. Leitch, have you had a busy day?)
The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - The Walker Bothers (1966 - #13: the Walker Brothers were not Brothers, nor were they British, which many believed because they traveled actress the pond to find fame)
I Can Hear the Rain - Reparata and the Delrons (1967 - DNC: girl group out of Brooklyn that woulda, coulda, shoulda had more hits)
The Girl I Knew Somewhere - The Monkees (1967 - #39: the flip side to "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", it was written by Monkee Mike Nesmith but sung by Mickey Dolenz)
Beg, Borrow, and Steal - The Ohio Express (1967 - #29: the story behind this song is complicated, needless to say that after its release the reconstituted band went in a more "bubblegum" direction)
CLOSING THEME: Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959 - #1 for two weeks; brothers Santo [steel guitar] and Johnny [rhythm guitar] Farina from Brooklyn)
Rockin' Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage,
like us on Facebook,
and tune in to 93.5 or stream
the show every Saturday night from 6-9pm! (Or download the WVBR+ app now available for iOS and
Android!)
Thanks to
our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every
week!
Date: 9/7/24
Host: John
Simon
Feature:
Back to School!
Rock ‘n’ Roll
Trivia
At some point this evening we’ll hear an
instrumental break that has the same melody as the Supremes’ “Baby Love.” The
first caller who gets through wins a pair of movie passes.
(scroll down to find the answer below the
playlist – and to find a glossary of terms)
Playlist
·YouTube links follow
certain entries
·songs with * were
requests
·all chart information
comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or
Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise
noted
·a glossary of terms is
below the playlist
6-7pm
OPENING THEME:
Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969, #29,
produced by Jimi Hendrix)
See You in
September – The Happenings (7/66; #3 for two weeks – the NJ vocal group had signed with The Tokens’ production company and their
new record label, and this reimagining of The Tempos’ tune propelled them
straight to the Top 5. I had planned to close my last show with this one, but
I’d run out of time.)
School Day –
Chuck Berry (4/57; #3 Pop for three weeks, #1 R&B for five weeks – Chuck Berry kicks off our back-to-school
special with this chronicle of a day-in-the-life of a high school kid. The
closing line says “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and that became the name of Keith
Richards’ concert film/tribute to one of his guitar heroes.)
Charlie Brown
– The Coasters (4/59; #2 for three weeks – Leiber
and Stoller wrote and produced this one and King Curtis plays the signature
saxophone solo and outro. Those inner city schools must have been wild, I tell
ya!)
* Wonderful
World – Sam Cooke (5/60; #12 Pop, #2 R&B – Sam Cooke was a writer, a record exec, an entrepreneur and one of the
smoothest vocalists of his generation. This magical song would resurface as a
hit for Herman’s Hermits a few years later, and as a stunning hit for Art
Garfunkel in the mid-Seventies, when his friends Paul Simon and James Taylor
joined him and added one more verse. Do yourself a favor and check out this cover of THAT version!)
To Sir With
Love – Lulu (9/67; headed to #1 for four weeks – this was the title track for the Sidney Poitier film about a working
class high school in London, and Lulu played one of the main roles in the film.
Backing her musically is the British group called The Mindbenders, although
they weren’t identified as such in the plot.)
* Be True to
Your School – Beach Boys (11/63; #6 – it
was the flipside of this record that is among the group’s most cherished hits,
although it only charted at #23. That would be the ballad called “In My Room.”)
Society’s
Child – Janis Ian (6/67; #14 – Janis Ian
was a high school kid from NYC’s HS of Music & Art when she was signed to
Verve Records, although this song was already two years old at that point. It had
been produced by Shadow Morton and recorded at Atlantic Records, but it was
deemed too controversial at the time. Even after its release, certain stations
refused to play it – including WLS in Chicago!)
Home of the
Brave – Jody Miller (8/65; #25 – her
first big hit was the novelty record called “Queen of the House,” but this is
another topical record that called out the hypocrisy and narrow-minded thinking
that clouded our public institutions. The writers were Barry Mann and Cynthia
Weil.)
Harper Valley
PTA – Jeannie C. Riley (9/68; headed to #1 – this one came out of nowhere on the small Plantation Records label and
topped both the Pop chart and the Country chart, where it spent three weeks at
#1. It also won the CMA Song of the Year, and later became a made-for-TV movie.)
Mr. Dieingly
Sad – Critters (8/66; #17 – we leave the
“school songs” for a while here, and turn our attention to the changing weather
and some of the sounds of Septembers past. These guys were from northern New
Jersey and had a nice string of singles for the Kapp Records label before the
draft broke the band up.)
The Dangling
Conversation – Simon & Garfunkel (8/66; #25 – many a high school English teacher pounced on the lyrics of this song
to encourage the young budding poets in their charge. Tonight we hear the mono
45 version, which has a steady percussive beat that isn’t heard on the LP
version that so many people are used to hearing.)
Wonderful!
Wonderful! – The Tymes (8/63; #7 – this
was the follow-up to their big #1 smash “So In Love,” and it takes full
advantage of lead singer George Williams’ ability to sound just like Johnny
Mathis, who’d originally recorded this song.)
Hey Girl –
Freddie Scott (8/63; #10 – this
Goffin-King treasure became Freddie’s signature song, but Billy Joel recorded a
stunning version in the mid-Nineties that gives it a run for its money!)
(Your Love
Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher – Jackie Wilson (8/67; #6 Pop, #1 R&B
– Jackie’s career was revived when his
producers hired Motown’s session players to come into the studio for this one.
That’s James Jamerson on bass, and
tonight we hear my original 45 from back in the day, clearly played too many
times over the years!)
Your Precious
Love – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (9/67; #5 Pop, #2 R&B for five weeks
– this one also features Motown’s session
players, but it IS a Motown record. This follow-up to the duo’s first big hit
would be the second of a string of about five sublime records that would end
when Tammi tragically succumbed to brain cancer.)
7-8pm
Birthday Calendar
Sept. 1 – Archie
Bell (Drells) – age 80
– Barry Gibb (Bee Gees) – age 78
– Greg Errico (Family Stone) – age
76
– Conway Twitty – born in 1933
Sept. 2 –
Jimmy Clanton – age 86
– Billy Preston – born in 1946
– Bobby Purify – born in 1939
– Joe Simon – born in
1936
– Hugo Montenegro– born in 1925
Sept. 3 – Al
Jardine (Beach Boys) – age 82
– Don Brewer (Grand Funk) – age 76
Sept. 4 – Gene
Parsons (Byrds) – born in 1934
Sept. 5 – Al
Stewart – age 79
– John Stewart – born in 1939
Sept. 6 –
Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) – age 81
Sept. 7 – Gloria
Gaynor – age 75
– Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders) – age
73
– Buddy Holly (Crickets) – born in 1936
Hot Fun in the
Summertime – Sly & The Family Stone (9/69; #2 for two weeks – this record came out hot on the heels of
their show-stopping performance at Woodstock, and has since become a summertime
classic.)
I Can’t Stop
Dancing – Archie Bell & The Drells (8/68; #9 Pop, #5 R&B – Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote and
produced this record, and lifted the melody line right out of
Holland-Dozier-Holland’s “Baby Love,” which becomes apparent during the horn
break in the middle. It was the follow-up to the Tighten Up, and it was
very good to them!)
Lonely Blue
Boy – Conway Twitty (12/59; #6 – his
greatest fame would come as a Country star, but he started out as a rockabilly
rebel with an “Elvis” vibe. He also became the prototype for the pompous rock
star character in the smash musical Bye Bye Birdie, “Conrad Birdie.”)
To Love
Somebody – Bee Gees (7/67; #17 – their
first five singles would’ve been good enough to call it “a career,” but they
were just getting started. This was their second hit here in the States. Nina
Simone would have a hit with it in the UK.)
Venus In Blue
Jeans – Jimmy Clanton (9/62; #7 – a cascade
of horns, a swirling harp and a driving beat add up to a big hit record for
this kid from rural Louisiana. He’d have a few more, but this was his best.)
I’m Your
Puppet – James & Bobby Purify (9/66; #6 Pop, #5 R&B – they really were cousins but only one was
really named “Purify.” This was written by Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham from,
and has become a shining example of the Muscle Shoals sound as laid down by the
studio players known as “The Swampers.”)
The Good, The
Bad & The Ugly – Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra (2/68; #2 Pop, #1 UK
for four weeks – this is the ultimate
“Spaghetti Western” soundtrack tune, and you can’t NOT think of Clint Eastwood
when you hear it.)
San Francisco
Is a Lonely Town – Joe Simon (9/69; #79 Pop, #29 R&B – Nashville writer Ben Peters had a hit with this one on Country radio,
but soulful Joe Simon put his own stamp on it and brought it to a wider
audience.)
Nothing From
Nothing – Billy Preston (10/74; #1 Pop, #8 R&B – this was the second #1 record for the composing keyboardist, unless you
include The Beatles’ “Get Back.” He’d actually gotten his start as a young teen
playing on records with Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and others, and
it was on tour with Little Richard that he first struck up a friendship with
George Harrison. The rest is history.)
Help Me,
Rhonda – Beach Boys (5/65; #1 for two weeks – Al Jardine got to sing lead on this one, but he was an
integral member of the band throughout its existence. There are several
versions of this song. Tonight we hear the one with the fade in/fade out ending.)
Some Kind of
Wonderful – Grand Funk (12/74; #3 – drummer
Don Brewer brought this one to the
band. The original was by The Soul Brothers Six, whose version spent one week
on the chart back in 1967. These guys gave it the exposure it deserved.)
Midnight Wind
– John Stewart (8/79; #28 – this was one
of three singles released from his critically-acclaimed Bombs Away Dream
Babies LP, where co-producer Lindsey Buckingham added lots of guitars and
vocal support, and brought singer Stevie Nicks in to join the mix.)
Gunga Din –
The Byrds (11/69; NR – Byrds drummer Gene Parsons also played guitar and
banjo and did some of their songwriting before leaving to join the Flying
Burrito Brothers. This was one that he brought to the band, and it’s a
stand-out track from their Easy Rider LP.)
Time Passages
– Al Stewart (9/78; #7 – this was the
Scottish singer’s highest-charting record here in the States. Tonight we hear
the 45 version, that takes two minutes off the version that gets heard on the
radio these days.)
8-9pm
That’ll Be the
Day – The Crickets (9/57; #1 Pop, #2 R&B – Buddy Holly would die two years later at the tender age of 22, but he
left an indelible mark on the world of popular music. The Beatles had picked
their name partly as a tribute to The Crickets, and The Hollies went one step
further!)
Stop Your
Sobbing – The Pretenders (6/80; #65 – this
Kinks cover was the follow-up to their breakthrough single here in the States,
and Chrissie Hynde would go on to actually have a child with Kinks founder Ray
Davies. She was a true Rock Star.)
Never Can Say
Goodbye – Gloria Gaynor (12/74; #9 – this
song had been a massive hit for the Jackson 5 in the spring of 1971, but the
emerging genre called Disco made it fair game for a re-imagining. Four years
later she’d release the worldwide anthem “I Will Survive.”)
Another Brick
in the Wall (Pt. II) – Pink Floyd (3/80; #1 for four weeks – Rolling Stone ranks this at #384 in its list
of the 500 greatest singles of all time. The guitar solo still takes my breath
away.)
No Surrender –
Bruce Springsteen (6/84; NR – this track
from the Born In the USA album is one of its few songs not released as a
single: the LP boasted five charting hits! This one is a loving tribute to the
power of the three-minute song, and to the magic playing music with one’s
friends.)
Kodachrome –
Paul Simon (5/73; #2 for two weeks – any
doubts that Paul could survive without Art Garfunkel were quickly put to rest
when his very first solo single went to #2. This one opens with the line “when
I look back on all the crap I learned in high school…” and our return to school
continues!)
Little Green
Apples – O.C. Smith (9/68; #2 – Roger
Miller also had a charting version of this song, and the song ended up winning
the coveted Song of the Year at that year’s Grammy Awards.)
Come Monday –
Jimmy Buffett (5/74; #30 – this is the
only Top Forty hit I know of that mentions Labor Day. Jimmy died last year on
September 1st, and I thought about him a lot on Labor Day this year,
which fell on the 2nd. His next three records would all get stuck in
the Bubbling Under chart. That would change when “Margaritaville” broke through
and reached #4.)
Where Is The
Love – Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’77 (7/73; dnc – word came around that Sergio passed away yesterday after a struggle
with long Covid, and that led me to dig out this lost treasure. It was released
on Bell Records about a year after Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway had the
big hit with it, but this quote from a friend of mine rings true: “This
song sounds as if it were written for Sergio, plays right into his wheelhouse
with the rhythm of the melody.”)
September –
Earth, Wind & Fire (11/78; #8 Pop, #1 R&B – this one seems to leap out of the speakers every year at about this
time, and it demands to be cranked at full blast.)
Spooky –
Atlanta Rhythm Section (9/79; #17 – several
core members of The Classics IV went on to form a studio band, and then started
recording under this new name. They dusted off this oldie from their old group
and turned it into a nice hit all over again – and this is how I’ll end
tonight’s show. See you next month!)
CLOSING
THEME: Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Trivia Answer
Kenny Gamble
& Leon Huff borrowed the melody of Baby Love and turned it into
Archie Bell’s I Can’t Stop Dancing.
Congratulations
to Denise from Groton, for correctly answering the question and winning a pair of tickets
to Cinemapolis!
AC = Billboard’s chart for “Adult Contemporary”
records
BB = Billboard Magazine, which publishes the Hot
100 chart (previously known as the Top 100), along with several other charts
Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top
100
C&W = Billboard’s chart for “Country & Western”
records
R&B = Billboard’s chart for “Rhythm & Blues”
records
RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
RS500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranked list of
the top 500 singles of all-time
Host Next Week
(9/14/24): Jan Hunsinger with a spotlight that he’s calling “Golden
Oldies”
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Ithaca's Best Local Radio Show in the most recent Ithaca Times Readers' Poll!
You can listen to Rockin' Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9pm on WVBR
(93.5 FM in Ithaca, NY) or at wvbr.com/listen.
Thanks, too,
to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support
every week!
